Title: Green procurement activities: some environmental indicators and practical actions taken by industry and tourism

Authors: Angela Denise da Cunha Lemos, Antonio Giacomucci

Addresses: Rua Silveiro, 359 / 304, CEP 90850-000 Porto Alegre/RS, Brazil. Vile Edison, 50, 20099 Sesto S. Giovanni (MI) Milan, Italy

Abstract: New concepts in environmental legislation are now going from the command-and-control rule to the prevention, promotion and extended producer responsibility. In addition to international certification standards such as ISO 14000, other aspects such as competitive strategic issues, new market opportunities, process innovation, products and services, are showing that for the industry sector, protection of the environment can be considered good for business. Several indicators show evidence of this. One such indicator is green procurement activities ongoing at several levels and in several locations. Elaboration of guidelines on how to include green procurement in public policy are under discussion or are definitive established by governments such as Canada, the USA and the EU. These are some very important examples of environmental indicators. To understand this field better, we have conducted an investigation into the green procurement activities of industry and the tourism sector. In some sectors, such as tourism, environmental protection gives additional features and added-value. An analysis of the tourism sector has been performed, taking into account laws, procurement activities, corporate strategies, consumer behaviour, innovations both implemented and planned. Positive signals from industry and sectors such as tourism show that environmental protection is a must for all of us and its adoption is strongly recommended in several fields, such as industry and tourism, investigated in this study.

Keywords: environment; green procurement; tourism; hospitality industry; industry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESD.2002.000718

International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 2002 Vol.1 No.1, pp.59-72

Published online: 17 Jul 2003 *

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